Gordon, Stuart 1947-

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Gordon, Stuart 1947-

PERSONAL

Born August 11, 1947, in Chicago, IL; son of Bernard Leo (a cosmetics executive) and Rosalie (a social worker and English teacher; maiden name, Sabbath) Gordon; married Carolyn Purdy (an actress and writer), December 20, 1968; children: Suzanna Katherine, Jillian Bess, Margaret Berni. Education: Attended University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1965-69. Religion: Jewish.

Addresses:

Office—Red Hen Productions, 3607 West Magnolia, Suite L, Burbank, CA 91505. Agent—Dean A. Schramm, Jim Preminger Agency, 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 530, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Manager—Industry Entertainment, 955 South Carrillo Dr., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90048.

Career:

Director, producer, writer, and actor. Broom Street Theatre, Madison, WI, founder, 1968; Screw Theatre, former affiliate; Organic Theatre Company, Madison, then Chicago, IL, founder and producing director, 1969-85; Red Hen Productions, Burbank, CA, principal. Worked as a commercial artist, c. 1965. Past member of board of directors, Illinois Arts Council and League of Chicago Theatres.

Member:

Writers Guild of America West, Theatre Communications Group (past member of board of directors).

Awards, Honors:

Golden Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival, c. 1977, and Drama Desk Award nomination, unique theatrical experience, and local Emmy Award, best direction, 1979, all for Bleacher Bums; grant, National Endowment for the Arts, c. 1978; Critics Prize, Cannes Film Festival, and Caixa de Catalunya, best film, Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival, both 1985, Fantafestival Award, best film, and Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival Award, both 1986, all for Re-Animator; International Fantasy Film Award nomination, best film, Fantasporto, 1990, for Robot Jox; International Fantasy Film Award nomination, best film, 1991, for The Pit and the Pendulum; nomination for Grand Prize, Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, 1993, for Fortress; Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival Award nomination, best film, 1996, for Space Truckers; International Fantasy Film Award nomination, best film, and Fantafestival Award, best direction, both 1998, for The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit; Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival Award nomination, 2001, and International Fantasy Film Award nomination, 2002, both best film, for Dagon; nomination for grand special prize, Deauville Film Festival, 2005, New Visions Award, Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival, 2006, and Mar del Plata Film Festival Award nomination, best film, 2006, all for Edmond; Joseph Jefferson Awards for writing and directing in Chicago.

CREDITS

Stage Director:

Candide, Organic Theatre Company, Body Politic Theatre, Chicago, IL, then Public Theatre, New York City, 1971.

Warp, Organic Theatre Company, Body Politic Theatre, then Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1973.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1973.

Bloody Bess, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1974.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1974.

Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1974.

Chemin de Fer, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1975.

Cops, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1976.

Bleacher Bums, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1977, then Performing Garage, later (also producer) American Place Theatre, both New York City, 1978.

Fornicopia, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1980.

The Little Sister, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1980.

The King Must Die, Organic Theatre Company, Buckingham Theatre, 1981.

E/R, Organic Theatre Company, 1982.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Goodman Theatre, 1985.

Ghost Man, c. 1995.

Kabbalah, Lex Theatre, Los Angeles, 2000.

Also directed other Organic Theatre Company productions, including Animal Farm, The Beckoning Fair One, Dr. Rat, The Great Switcheroo, Mrs. Bixby and the Colonels Coat, Odyssey, Poe, Richard III, The Sirens of Titan, and The Visitor.

Stage Director; Major Tours:

Bloody Bess, Organic Theatre Company, European cities, 1974.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, Organic Theatre Company, European cities, 1974.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Organic Theatre Company, European cities, 1975, and U.S. cities, 1976.

The Sirens of Titan, Organic Theatre Company, West Coast cities, 1977.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, Organic Theatre Company, West Coast cities, 1977.

Stage Appearances:

Appeared in a production of Marat/Sade.

Film Director:

Re-Animator, Empire, 1985.

From Beyond (also known as H. P. Lovecraft's "From Beyond"), Empire, 1986.

Dolls, Empire, 1987.

Robot Jox (also known as Robojox), Triumph, 1990.

The Pit and the Pendulum (also known as The Inquisitor), Paramount, 1991.

Fortress, Dimension Films, 1993.

Castle Freak (also known as Stuart Gordon's "Castle Freak"), Full Moon Enterprises, 1995.

(And producer) Space Truckers (also known as Star Truckers), Pachyderm Productions, 1997.

(And producer) The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, Buena Vista/Walt Disney, 1998.

Dagon (also known as Dagon: Sect of the Sea, H. P. Lovecraft's "Dagon," The Lost Island, and Dagon—La secta del mar), Lions Gate Films, 2001.

(And coproducer) King of the Ants, Asylum, 2003.

(And producer) Edmond, First Independent Pictures, 2006.

Stuck, Rigel Entertainment, 2007.

Film Executive Producer:

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, Buena Vista, 1992.

The Progeny, Fries Film Group, 1999.

Snail Boy, 2000.

Deathbed (also known as Stuart Gordon's "Deathbed"), Film 2000/Full Moon Pictures/Shadow Entertainment, 2002.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) Bartender, Robot Jox (also known as Robojox), Triumph, 1990.

Biker, The Arrival (also known as The Unwelcomed), 1990.

Second doctor, Susan's Plan (also known as Dying to Get Rich), Kushner-Locke Productions, 1998.

Chicago Filmmakers on the Chicago River (documentary), Film Foetus, 1998.

(Uncredited) Party guest, Bread and Roses (also known as Pan y rosas), Lions Gate Films, 2000.

Clint's biker relative, Snail Boy, 2000.

The Eldritch Influence: The Life, Vision, and Phenomenon of H. P. Lovecraft (documentary), 2003.

Television Work; Movies:

Director, Daughter of Darkness, CBS, 1990.

Co-executive producer, Bleacher Bums (also known as The Cheap Seats), Showtime, 2002.

Television Director; Specials:

(With Pat Denny) Bleacher Bums, PBS, 1979.

Television Director; Episodic:

"Honey, Let's Trick-or-Treat," Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, 1998.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Dark Desires: Sexuality in the Horror Film," SexTV, 2003.

Television Appearances; Other:

Boogeymen II: Masters of Horror (special), Sci-Fi Channel, 2004.

The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (miniseries), Bravo, 2004.

Hitchcocked! (special), Starz, 2006.

RECORDINGS

Video Appearances:

King of the Ants: Behind the Scenes, Asylum Home Entertainment, 2003.

Cinemaker, Full Moon, 2004.

Dreams, Darkness, and Damnation: An Interview with Stuart Gordon, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2006.

The Fearmakers Collection, Elite Entertainment, 2007.

Video Director:

Kid Safe: The Video, 1988.

WRITINGS

Stage Plays:

(With Bury St. Edmund) Warp, Organic Theatre Company, Body Politic Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1971-72, then Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1973.

(With William J. Norris and John Ostrander) Bloody Bess, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1974.

(With Joe Mantagna and others) Bleacher Bums, Organic Theatre Company, Uptown Center Theatre, 1977, then Performing Garage, later American Place Theatre, both New York City, 1978.

(With wife Carolyn Purdy-Gordon) The Little Sister (based on novel by Raymond Chandler), Organic Theatre Company, 1980.

(With Ronald Berman and others) E/R, Organic Theatre Company, 1982.

Screenplays:

(With William J. Norris and Dennis Paoli) Re-Animator (based on H. P. Lovecraft's story "Herbert West: The Re-Animator"), Empire, 1985.

(With Paoli and Brian Yuzna) From Beyond (also known as H. P. Lovecraft's "From Beyond;" based on Lovecraft's story of the same title), Empire, 1986.

(With Paoli and Nicholas St. John) Body Snatchers, Warner Bros., 1993.

The Dentist, Trimark Pictures, 1996.

Space Truckers (also known as Star Truckers; also based on story by Gordon), Pachyderm Productions, 1997.

Dagon (also known as Dagon: Sect of the Sea, H. P. Lovecraft's "Dagon," The Lost Island, and Dagon—La secta del mar), Lions Gate Films, 2001.

Television Episodes:

"H. P. Lovecraft's ‘Dreams in the Witch-House,’" Masters of Horror, Showtime, 2005.

"The Black Cat," Masters of Horror, Showtime, 2007.

Videos:

Kid Safe: The Video, 1988.

ADAPTATIONS

The 1979 television special and 2002 television movie Bleacher Bums were based on Gordon's stage play of the same title. The stage play Warp inspired a comic-book series, published by First Comics in 1982; the play E/R was adapted as a television series aired on CBS, 1984-85; the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago was adapted as the film About Last Night, released by TriStar in 1986. The film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was based on a story by Gordon and released by Buena Vista in 1989; sequels were based on characters created by Gordon. The film Robot Jox was based on a story by Gordon; the 1996 film Robo Warriors was based on characters created by Gordon. The film Re-Animator inspired a comic-book series, published by Pacific Comics, 1990. Other films based on stories by Gordon include Castle Freak (also known as Stuart Gordon's "Castle Freak"), Full Moon Enterprises, 1995; The Progeny, Fries Film Group, 1999; and Stuck, Rigel Entertainment, 2007. The 1998 television movie The Dentist 2 (also known as The Dentist 2: Brace Yourself) was based on characters created by Gordon.